Demand Reason

Adolphus Busch IV, Heir To Brewing Fortune, Resigns NRA Membership

Adolphus Busch IV, whose great-grandfather founded St. Louis based Anheuser-Busch, and heir to the Busch family fortune, today announced his resignation as a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA). The announcement came a day after legislation that would extend background checks failed in the U.S. Senate.

In an email sent exclusively to NewsChannel 5’s Leisa Zigman, Adolphus Busch IV, an heir to the Busch family fortune, asked the gun rights group to “immediately” remove his name from its membership roles.

In a letter to the NRA, Busch said, “It disturbs me greatly to see this rigid new direction of the NRA.” Busch, joined the NRA in 1975 and is a hunter who has been around guns his entire life. “One only has to ask why the NRA reversed its original position on background checks,” wrote Busch. “Was it not the NRA position to support background checks when Mr. LaPierre himself stated in 1999 that NRA saw checks as ‘reasonable’?”

Busch didn’t stop with background checks, he also sees no need for assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. “I am simply unable to comprehend how assault weapons and large capacity magazines have a role in your vision,” said Busch. “The NRA I see today has undermined the values upon which it was established. Your current strategic focus clearly places priority on the needs of gun and ammunition manufacturers while disregarding the opinions of your 4 million individual members.”

There’s no question the NRA represents big business interests, not its membership.